Grambling outlasts Southern

NEW ORLEANS—After Southern came out of the tunnel dawning new columbia blue Bayou Classic jerseys and seniors Glenn Bell, Joseph Selders and Vince Lands made their way to midfield for the coin toss, it was apparent there was a sense of urgency.
A sense of urgency that time was coming to an end. A sense of urgency that this could possibly be their last game in those blue jerseys, a sense of urgency that their college careers could be coming to an end sooner than expected if the Jaguars didn’t emerge victorious.
So would SU answer the call?
Would the seniors’ focus rub off on everyone else?
Not judging by the scoreboard.
But still, the Jaguars have nothing to be ashamed of even though the 29-14 defeat ceased all hope of a three-team coin flip and a chance at the Southwestern Athletic Conference crown.
“Those guys played extremely hard,” SU defensive coordinator Terrance Graves said. “That’s all you can ask for. We made mistakes here and there, but they have nothing to hang their head about.”
Indeed.
Added SU coach Pete Richardson, “I thought we played well in spots and offensively we were real inconsistent. We made too many mistakes and just let them hang around.”
Like Richardson said, SU led 14-12 at half, but faltered down the stretch. That same stretch saw Grambling outscore SU 17-0, while holding Juamorris Stewart in check.
What was the cause of the drop in production?

“They didn’t do anything different as far as doubling Juamorris,” Richardson said. “They just applied pressure up front. We had some injuries and shuffled people around, but none of that worked.”
Too bad SU lacked that same sense of urgency in the second half when Warren Matthews entered the game on second-and-10 at the SU 33 following a Bryant Lee incompletion where his thumb was planted into the turf by a GSU defender. Matthews went on to finish eight-for-15 for 96 yards and three interceptions.
Rightfully so, the frustration was visible in Matthews’ demeanor.
“It wasn’t one of my better games because I didn’t make the plays when we needed them,” Matthews said. “It’s just disappointing because we knew what we needed to do. It shouldn’t have been that way.”
Grambling trailed 14-0 with 44 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The deficit was GSU largest margin all season. GSU came out firing, with three rushes from Dillon and a 20-yard pass from Dillon to Terrence Dunn. The reception set up Dillon’s wild scramble on first-and-10, which he fumbled on the SU two yard line as Joe Manning came from behind to strip the football. Bell recovered in the end zone for the touchback.
Manning’s touchdown saving effort ignited the SU offense as the Jaguars went on an 11-play drive capped by Lee’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Stewart for a 7-0 lead with 3:58 remaining. At that point Lee was eight-for-eight.
“It (loss) was tough but I commend my guys. We went out there and played our hearts out,” SU defensive back Glenn Bell said. “We fought. We didn’t just lie down.”
On the ensuing drive Lee hit Stewart for a 39-yard strike setting up Alvin Fosselman’s score from one yard out to give SU a 14-0 lead. On the play defensive linemen Joseph Selders and Jacoby Collins were in to block. The score was Fosselman’s second on the season.
Following the drive Lee was 10-for-10 for 146 yards and a TD. Stewart had 118 yards and a TD on just six receptions.
“We had everything in place to get to that championship, but unfortunately we had our hurdles,” SU defensive end Vince Lands said.
Added Bell, “We kind of let it slip away from us. In order for us to win we had to step on top of Grambling and we didn’t.”
Senior Shout Out
26 seniors played their final game in the Bayou Classic, Saturday. The seniors are Del Roberts (1), DeQuincy Gordon (3), Glenn Bell (5), Michael Williams (7), Clevan White (9), C.J. Byrd (14), Joe Manning (19), Murrell Carter (21), Toyin Akinwale (23), Kendrick Smith (32), Vincent Lands (33), Jeremy Smith (37), Alvin Fosselman (38), Atuanya Antoine (45), Donald Steele (46), John Malveaux (49), Demarcus Turner (54), Frank Harry (66), Joseph Selders (71), Demarcus Stewart (75), Myles Williams (76), Rafeal Louis (77), Adrian Banks (79), Evan Alexander (81), Charles Booker (89), Jacoby Collins (99).
Banged up B. Lee
Banged up for a second consecutive year in the Bayou Classic, Lee was forced out of Saturday’s game with thumb and knee injuries. Last year he broke the thumb on his (right) throwing hand.